I am thrilled with my beautiful picture that was presented to me at the weekend by the Flutewise members who took part in the Christmas concerts. It’s a framed photo of Ian Anderson, taken by Zoe Richards, with a message3 which says, “To Liz We love you loads and loads! Thank you so much” and it is signed by all the flute players who were at the weekend. I’ll treasure it forever.

I also had some lovely flowers, lilies, from Hannah, Lucy and their mum, Sarah, Laura made me a really pretty bracelet, which I’m wearing now and Robbie gave me something that really made me smile – it’s possibly one of the most original presents I’ve ever had – a box of eggs laid by Robbie’s hens!

So thank you all.

Meeting Ian Anderson
In March some very lucky Flutewise members had the opportunity to meet our “Artist of the Year”, Ian Anderson who is lead vocalist and flute player in the rock band, Jethro Tull. Here are some of their thoughts on the event which took place in Cardiff and Birmingham (some of this will be in the next magazine, but there isn’t room for all of it and I thought you might like to read it):

So here I am writing to you all because of one really cool guy!
My parents dragged me alone to a Jethro Tull gig when I was about 6 years old and boy did I think it was cool! I was so desperate to play the flute that I nagged and nagged and nagged…. a flute was bought, lessons were arranged at school and I arrived ready to purr, whistle and sing into the hole and stand on one leg… my teacher was not happy and put a stop to it at once. Very boring teacher but standing on one leg and weird sounds were allowed at home!! Through my flute I’ve got to meet some fantastic people and have some amazing experiences. Playing solo give me such a buzz, I love that nervous feeling just before you lift your flute up for the first note and then its like flying until you get to the end of the piece. I have Ian and Tull to thank for inspiring me to get started in the first place. So you can imagine how completely AWESOME it was to be able to play on stage with Ian and the band last weekend!
We got to watch the sound check before being invited onstage to play our piece for Ian which was really interesting because it seemed as if there were still loads of work to do on the pieces - Checking when to come in, which keys to be in, monitors not loud enough but the actual gig was so together, I guess these guys really know what they’re doing! We played our piece and Ian soon switched us from straight Bach Bourree to the jazzed up Tull version and then did his stuff while we all watched in awe!! I don’t think any of us knew what to expect Ian to be like, he is a bit nuts on stage but he was so laid back and patient and he gave us loads of his time and advice that we could take away and use. (“Do as you are told in your lessons then go home and try new things”, cool!) 
So thanks Liz for a fab day and for driving all the way to sunny Cardiff in your dodgy little car!!
From Jack Welch, age 14, Cardiff 
 
Thank you for the opportunity to meet Ian Anderson! It was nothing like
I’d expected… Especially talking about Lady Jeanne Galway’s preferred tea-bags!!!!
It was great to meet up with some other members and to get to play together for such a successful player!
A very interesting experience!!!
Chloe Bradshaw, age 15, Hengoed, Wales

Wow! Yesterday was such an amazing experience! It was great to hear the band doing their soundcheck, and then to actually go on stage with them to play Ian’s signature tune! Our chat with Ian was very interesting… I never knew how a talk about microwave meals could inspire such a weird conversation – including Toyota Priuses, Sir James and Lady Jeannes’ suitcases, tea bags, chilli powder, and drugs…
The actual show was also amazing. The band played so well and the atmosphere in the hall was great – apart from some very mad, very drunk lady shouting “pussy willow” every 2 minutes.
One song into the second half, Ian’s flute broke, we actually saw something fall off it! So he had to quickly set up his second flute while there was an extended guitar solo to cover it.
I had such a great time, and it was really nice to see everyone again. I would like to thank you for all the hard work you do to make such events possible – including driving from Brighton to Cardiff in a hired Fiesta!
Cathy Hare, age 14, Pembrokshire

Just wanted to say thanks for Saturday, it was great. Meeting Ian Anderson has inspired me to play and I have been listening to Jethro Tull CDs since.
Jan Forester, age 15, Bridgwater, Somerset

Yesterday was amazing!!!!! He is such a nice guy and an ace flute player!!!! Thank you soooo much for taking me. It was one of the best experiences of my whole life! My dad and I were very pleased with the autographs and thank you for getting the books for Ian to sign!
The way he plays is brill! Also I can’t believe that he has never had a lesson in his life! That’s weird and very incredible! He is a really nice person and an amazing musician! I can’t believe that I met him!
Alice Leaver, age 13, Newcastle upon Tyne

I really enjoyed meeting and playing with Ian Anderson, he’s a really nice guy! Such and amazing flute player, I still can’t believe he didn’t have lessons. He makes the most amazing sounds out of the instrument! It’s also nice to see the flute used in music that’s not all classical and full of things to follow and look out for. He’s really cool.
Ellie Richards, age 15, Southport, Merseyside

Meeting Jethro Tull was brilliant. It inspired me to want to become a musician like him. It’s unbelievable that he is that good yet hasn’t had a flute lesson in his life! Another thing that impressed me was the fact that he hadn’t got a music stand and he knew exactly where to come in – just by ear. It was an experience I’ll never forget!
Esther Watts, age 16, Sutton Coldfield

At first, we were asked to meet in the foyer area of the theatre that we would later meet Ian Anderson. By the time everyone had arrived, we practiced our piece together that we were required to learn off-by-heart by the day. We were then summoned into the theatre itself, where we went to find our seats in the auditorium. As we were walking there, there was a definite source of music coming from the stage, and as we entered, we saw Jethro Tull for the first time. The band were rehearsing their music whilst doing the sound check, and we took our seats near the back on the ground floor. It was a very peculiar experience to have once seen these people in photographs, and then to meet them in person; better still to have the chance to play with them!
The music they were playing is not easy to describe. It certainly was not classical, although some music did seem classically based; but then again nor did it sound very rock-like either. The way Ian Anderson played his flute was very strange: he overblew his notes, but used the lower octave fingering, so it sounded almost mechanical. We were so impressed by what he played, mainly because we found out that he has never had a flute lesson in his life! He completely taught himself by ear, and he can’t read music! There was also a drummer, two guitarists and a pianist. No one had music in front of them on the stage, and so therefore it looked a lot better because they could move around freely.
We were then asked if we could go up onto the stage with our flutes, so we made our way up the stairs and onto the wired-up stage, and Ian brought us back into the wings. He then just had a chat to us about music and about him. He even asked us questions, like how long each lesson is, how often we have to practice and if we can read music. We then went back onto the stage, and the whole band played their parts together while we joined in and played the piece we had learnt. It was a fantastic feeling, and it also looked great because no one had any music! Once we had finished playing all we knew, Ian got us to play another style version of it. He did this by making the notes dotted. We then went back into the wings where he gave us all a progamme each and he signed then all for us. We had our photographs taken all the way through by Zoe Richards, which was amazing.
Later on, I also stayed to watch the show. It was an amazing feeling to think that only a few hours ago we were playing on that stage. All the lighting looked amazing, and the performers gave it their all. The Bouree was just like we had played it with him, and the other pieces they played sounded great. The way Ian plays is unique, and I, and I am sure everyone else who was there, felt very privileged to have been able to watch him at a performance – and play with him!
It was a very laid-back concert and I really liked the way Ian interacted with the audience because it made the atmosphere more relaxed. I really enjoyed the whole day.
Samantha Tooze, age 15, Rugby